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The exogamous families’ page Parenthése

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Thanks mom, merci papa |! lam becoming fluent in French |!

e As the non-francophone par- ey ent of a child living in an ex- ogamous household, one can certainly be proud (and even brag!) to have a child who can easily navi- gate back and forth between two languages (or more). Nevertheless the same parent may, from time to time, feel quite overwhelmed, inadequate, isolated, frustrated and discouraged with all of this Moliére’s language busi- ness! La francophonie can, in fact, be a bit much at times when one can't understand what is going on or does not feel part of the fun!

“My child missed pyjama day because | did not understand the message sent home in French. He was quite upset.”

“| would very much like to volunteer at my child’s preschool but | feel so intimi- dated because | may not understand what is expected of me, but everyone else will..."

“When | want to read in French with my child, she keeps on correcting me or asks me to stop reading!”

“How canthelp my child learn to speak French when | do not speak it well my- self?"

These are typical of comments heard from non-francophone parents. De- spite the occasional worry, there are winning approaches for non-franco- phone parents that will support and encourage their child’s language de- velopment process as well as ease some of their own anxieties.

Create a positive environment

The learning of French, like any second language, requires that it be pertinent, interesting but most import- antly presented within a secure en- vironment for the child. These three elements are important ones to focus on in order to promote successful lan- guage acquisition. This article will focus specifically on the aspect of how to create a secure environment for the child's learning process — an environ- ment which must be established by both parents.

While the francophone parent's challenge may be to find more op- portunities to speak French with the child, one of the key contributions on the part of the non-francophone par- ent is to aim at establishing a positive and comfortable environment for the child, where speaking French feels normal and acceptable wherever the family may be. By simply embracing and respecting those moments when the francophone parent (or anyone else) addresses the child in French —- when playing a game, visiting grand- maman, running into friends at the park or going through the bed time routine — the non-francophone parent is subtly setting up the child for success.

It’s all about your attitude

It is imperative that both parents be very clear about their desire to see their young one speak French, and work to- wards creating the appropriate atmos- phere. If the child senses some reti- cence on the part of one parent and thinks that he/she is making someone

by Michelle Marsan

feel left out, the child might not be at ease to speak French as it will not feel so emotionally safe for him/her to learn, which subsequently might slow down his/her progress.

To the preschooler, the secure en- vironment may be established by the parents’ words, actions and attitude, which demonstrate that French should be a part of his/her life now, and not just that it will be useful some day in the future. In addition, letting your child know that you would also like to im- prove your French language skills could be very stimulating for the both of you since children love to teach their par- ents what they have learned.

Celebrate both languages

In an exogamous household, it is crucial that each of the parents’ re- spective languages be respected, valued, and celebrated equally. The subtle messages that we send our kids are very important and must always positively reinforce an environment for learning not only a language, but all aspects of the child’s life.

P.S. As for the missed preschool py- jama party and the undecipherable French note, why not pair up with a francophone parent with whom you could be in touch for a bit of support whenever the Francophone parent is not available. Who knows, you could even get invited into the classroom to flip some extraordinaires crépes your OWN fabulous way! =